LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Shares in BG Group Plc. fell after it launched
a $12 billion all-cash takeover bid for Australia's Origin Energy Ltd.,
overshadowing the UK natural gas producer's forecast-beating first quarter
earnings.
BG offered to pay A$14.70 for each Origin share, 40 percent above the
group's Tuesday closing price. It plans to use debt and existing cash to finance
the acquisition.
Origin, Australia's second-largest energy retailer, said it has not yet
considered the proposal and discussions with BG are to take place shortly.
At 1.25 p.m., BG shares were down over 5 percent at 1,241 pence following
the bid, which Dresdner Kleinwort described to be an "aggressive step up" in
BG's Australian ambition.
Given the scale of the offer, investors are waiting for a "convincing
explanation" from BG, the broker said.
Origin shares closed over 33 percent higher at A$13.95 on Wednesday on the
Australian exchange.
Frank Chapman, BG's chief executive, declined to reply to queries relating
to the Origin bid during a conference call with reporters held after the release
of the company's quarterly results in London on Wednesday morning.
The approach came a few months after BG paid 299 million pounds to get a 20
percent stake in Queensland Gas Co Ltd's coal seam gas business and a 9.9
percent interest in the company itself. BG and Queensland Gas also agreed to
build a liquefied natural gas production and export plant on the Queensland
coast.
Origin is Australia's largest producer of coal seam gas, or the gas produced
from coal fields. It is responsible for a quarter of the country's production
and a third of the overall reserves.
The robust gas market in the Asia Pacific were behind BG's strong first
quarter results.
Net profit before disposals and other one-off items in the three months to
March increased 76 percent to 789 million pounds, while operating profit grew 70
percent to 1.402 billion pounds, both beating analysts' forecasts of 685 million
pounds and 1.235 billion pounds, respectively.
Operating profit from the LNG business jumped 226 percent to 395 million
pounds, reflecting strong demand in Asia, which absorbed 90 percent of the
group's cargoes. The shipping and marketing business contributed 383 million
pounds of the LNG unit's profit.
"Based on the first quarter's result and our current view of trading
conditions, we estimate that our shipping and marketing business will deliver an
operating profit for 2008 of around 1.1 billion pounds," BG said.
The exploration and production business saw profit rise 50 percent to 942
million pounds on higher commodity prices and production.
BG's production grew 4 pct to 60.7 million barrels of oil equivalent in the
quarter, over 70 percent of which is gas.
BG this month secured a 20-year LNG supply contract with the Energy Market
Authority of Singapore. Under the deal, it will deliver up to 3 million tonnes
of LNG to the Singaporean market each year starting 2012.
monicca.egoy@thomsonreuters.com
mbe/jag
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